SOG Ch 137

About half an hour after dawn fully broke, they finally reached the large apartment complex in District 5 where his aunt reportedly lived.

“What a fog…”

This was what his mother muttered as she hurriedly got out of the car upon arriving at the parking lot of the building and unit number his aunt had provided.

Her already ghost-like pale complexion had turned even whiter. Having suddenly woken up as they entered District 5, she had been startled by the hazy fog covering the car windows. Even Jae-chan had been surprised. Though he’d often heard that the basin-like terrain caused frequent heavy fog, he hadn’t expected it to be this severe.

“Jae-chan! Sister!”

Just then, his aunt, wearing a padded jacket, came running out towards the outdoor parking lot, apparently having been watching from the lobby. At first, she was shocked seeing the scratched and damaged car, but calmed down only after Jae-chan repeatedly assured her he wasn’t hurt.

“Was it you who was trapped, not your mom? Why do you look so awful!”

You seem feverish? Gu Ji-eun placed her hand on her nephew’s forehead, clearly worried. Jae-chan, whose face was indeed reddened from fever, took a step back, worried his aunt might sense the instability of his faint esper wavelength.

“It’s because I drove all night. You should worry about mother instead.”

His condition had been worsening, having been left without guiding for so long. It seemed much worse than during the Universal Park incident when he’d endured a day without guiding after entering the attraction building. He needed to receive guiding as soon as possible.

“Are you alright, sis? My goodness, an Esper ability restraints? What on earth happened!”

His aunt bombarded them with words and questions as they rode the elevator up. When she confessed, “Oh right! I already told father. Because I couldn’t reach Jae-chan either,” his mother, who had been quiet, exploded in anger.

“What?”

Jae-chan saw his aunt easily subdue his mother by saying, “If you want to live with father instead of me, keep getting angry. I sincerely hope you keep acting up? Should I send you right over?” Then he went back down to the first floor.

Although he was still without a coat, he felt rather cool, perhaps due to the fever. Jae-chan only took out his phone after reaching an empty lot with a distant view of a playground. He contacted Woo-jin first.

“I’m in District 5 right now. My aunt lives here, so I brought my mom. …Yeah, I’m fine. Of course, Mom’s fine too. Who do you think saved her?”

Jae-chan laughed, then briefly held his throbbing head. Pressing his heated cheek with the back of his hand, he broached the topic he had been hesitant to mention.

“I’m going to stay here for a while.”

Jae-chan knew. Having to be apart often just as they started dating was unfortunate.

Even so.

Even if it ended up being unfortunate.

He wanted to have only good experiences.

If he couldn’t shamelessly stay by Woo-jin’s side while pretending not to notice his feelings for Nam Hae-sol, and if he couldn’t interfere with them getting closer…

At the very least, he didn’t want to see that situation with his own eyes. Even if they broke up, he only wanted to see Woo-jin growing cold towards him. He absolutely didn’t want to see Go Woo-jin falling in love with Guide Nam Hae-sol. Just imagining him smiling at someone else the way he smiled at him made Jae-chan’s heart feel like it was tumbling onto a cement floor.

‘It would be better if I got transferred to District 5.’

Is it because the wavelength is unstable? Jae-chan suddenly felt a little weak and wrinkled his eyebrows. At that time, a surprising answer came back from Woo-jin.

-For how long?

At Woo-jin’s overly calm voice, Jae-chan thought for a moment that he had heard wrong.

“…Uh, at least a month, I guess?”

He stammered in response, caught off guard. But Woo-jin’s voice remained nonchalant.

-There’s a limit to how much leave you can take, right? Do you want me to help?

His voice was gentle and low, with a hint of delight.

Jae-chan’s eyes widened in disbelief. So, he was offering to help him stay in District 5 longer?

How could he consider this… was this as having an understanding lover, or as being pushed away?

‘Of course, it’s the former.’

Perhaps because he wasn’t being honest with himself, he was twisting Woo-jin’s sincere concern. Jae-chan shook his head vigorously and quickly replied.

“No, you don’t have to worry about it. It’s still a mission. Just hearing your voice makes me really happy. …It’s fine.”

While insisting he was fine, Jae-chan quickly repented. Woo-jin seemed too good for him in many ways. He suddenly renewed his commitment to become a better person and treat Woo-jin really well.

“Really, it’s fine.”

When he emphasized it again, there was an awkward silence between the two for a moment. After a moment, Woo-jin carefully asked:

-When should we schedule the matching rate measurement?

With those words, Jae-chan suddenly realized. He had completely forgotten about it. During the period when he was obsessed with Woo-jin, he had been waiting only for the measurement day, but now he had totally forgotten.

Although he still anticipated it, his mind was cluttered. Somehow, he feared facing the visible results.

“Let’s do it right away when I get back to District 1. …You’re still in training, right? It must be tough.”

Jae-chan changed the subject, trying to hide his feelings of embarrassment and guilt. For a while, the tip of his foot, wrapped in black sneakers, nervously brushed against the sidewalk blocks.

Yes, of course. …Right, take care of yourself. I’ll call you again. After ending the call a moment later, Jae-chan swallowed a sigh that had risen to the tip of his chin. He stared at the darkened phone screen with eyes full of lingering attachment. He kept wondering if his decision to stay in District 5, as if escaping from pain, was the right choice.

However, no matter how he thought about it, it was the best and second-best option.

His relationship with Woo-jin wasn’t the center of his life. Wasn’t this why he had immediately established a project upon regressing? He hadn’t dared to hope for Woo-jin’s feelings in the first place.

He still had to protect the lives of the people he cared about, including Woo-jin.

If he pursued his goals, everything would fall into place. As it happened, there was a lot to do District 5.

Time to move. Before having useless thoughts, he should find the next task to work on. Jae-chan suppressed the urge to call Woo-jin again and say he wanted to see him right away.

*

After briefly explaining the situation over the phone to Team Leader Hong Ye-deok, Jae-chan went back up to his aunt’s house to apply for leave.

‘I am worried about the apprentices though.’

Nam Hae-sol’s determined voice and Han Myeong-gyu dropping his glasses after being grabbed by the hair flashed before his eyes. But he shrugged, thinking they would manage well on their own. They were now no longer apprentices but official Guides, out of his jurisdiction. There were other seniors too.

“Can I use the computer?”

His aunt and mother were still bickering about whether or not to remove the Esper ability restraints immediately or not. Carefully inserting himself between them to ask permission, he entered the small study room his aunt had shown him.

As Jae-chan downloaded the Guide certification he had encrypted and stored in the cloud, he thought he needed to find a way to stay in District 5 for a long time. There was a limit to how much leave he could take.

As Woo-jin had said, there was also the option of asking him for help, but he decided to leave that as a last resort. After carefully going through his contact list, Jae-chan finally contacted the most suitable person.

-The customer is unavailable to take your call. Please leave a message after the tone…

However, for a while, only an incoming tone was heard and the other person did not answer the phone.

Jae-chan left a text message explaining the situation and then listened to the conversation outside the room. He heard his aunt’s angry voice: “Okay, then let’s keep the restraints on for now and call a lawyer first! We’ll keep everything as evidence!” The two were still arguing.

When the conversation between his aunt and mother finally ended in a truce, Jae-chan left the study.

“I also plan to stay in District 5 for a while.”

When he announced his decision, his mother and aunt looked a bit surprised.

“Don’t worry. I’ll find a separate place to stay.”

“What are you talking about? We have plenty of spare rooms… well, not plenty. I guess sleeping with your mom would be uncomfortable?”

Gu Ji-eun nodded seriously.

“I’ll set up bedding in the study. The heating in this house is good all around.”

“If it’s too much trouble for me to stay—”

“What trouble! Your mother is the trouble! That’s why I’ve been saying all along…”

Gu Ji-eun held her tongue. It wasn’t the time to criticize her sister. If she were to criticize, she should first beat up that bastard Seon Min-yeol.

“Anyway, I’d feel more uncomfortable if you went to stay somewhere else! Sis, say something too. He says he’s staying because of his mother.”

For a moment, Jae-chan felt a twinge of guilt. His decision to stay in District 5 wasn’t because of his mother. Seeing his mother rolling her large, calf-like eyes, Jae-chan quickly interjected.

“Then I’ll take you up on that offer, Aunt. Please make me do the dishes and recycling.”

“Oh my, that’s fine, that’s fine. …You’re lucky, Sis. Your son is so considerate.”

Gu Ji-eun nudged her sister’s side with her elbow, making the frail Gu Ji-young let out a small gasp. As the topic had turned this way again, Jae-chan fidgeted, feeling uncomfortable.

“Aunt, aren’t you going to work?”

“I took a day off. If I couldn’t reach you, I was planning to go up to District 1 today.”

Jae-chan briefly expressed his admiration. He had to give it to his aunt for her ability to take action.

SECTION 10. District 5 (1)

After making an excuse to his aunt that he was going to the hospital when she told him to eat breakfast before leaving, Jae-chan put on his coat and left the house again. It was to receive guiding.

The most important thing before a mission was to check oneself and one’s equipment. He staggered and sat down on a bench. After about half an hour of looking at a second-hand item selling app, he realized that unlike in District 1, it wasn’t easy to find unofficial guiding here. Well, the population difference was quite significant to begin with.

In fact, it was clear who he should go to if he wanted to receive guiding as quickly as possible. It was just that the number of people who knew the secret had increased.